Bittersweet
by Shika-E.S.W
Summary: I was bored and decided why not try a Shika/Naru one-shot. Rated T because I don't want to take any chances for being kicked off this site.


A young girl sat hunched over her knees silently watching the children running in the playground, making sure she was a safe distance away from everyone. She watched a child laughing freely her arms spread out and running towards her mother, her eyes dancing with joy. She watched as a young boy tripped and fell on his face getting up to have tears in his eyes and his mother already beside him, patching his wounds up. She watched as the children laughed and played together, their laughs echoing throughout the playground like melodies.

The blond tuned away from the scene feeling tears threatening to pour out of her eyes, she took one last look at the playground before getting up and running away, as she did the parents who spotted her glared at her back and inched closer to their children. All except a small child who glanced curiously at the child then the adults, looking back at his mother he questioned her about it only to get scolded and to be told never to go near the child, looking back at where the girl had disappeared he dismissed all thoughts of her into the back of his mind, and went back to watching the fluffs of white in the crystal sky.

* * *

Naruto ran down the alleyways of the village as fast as she could, night had fallen, it wasn't safe for her at night, she heard a shuffle from the end of the alleyway behind her panicking she picked up speed her heart beating as she raced through the deserted streets of Konoha towards her destination. Her blond spiky hair whipped her face and clouded her vision making it harder for her to see, trying to move her hair out of her face she tripped. Falling face first into a puddle, she wiped the murky water out of her eyes only to find that she was surrounded by four large shadowed figures, she scuttled back, dragging herself with her hands eyes wide in horror.

Tears fell down her face as one of the figures grabbed her and shoved her roughly into a nearby alleyway and driving her against the wall, the side of her head banged against it. She fell to the floor suddenly find her knees too weak to support her, her head lulled to the side as crimson liquid rushed down her face, mixing with her tears. It hurt, her heart was suffocating, the pain of the beatings she was given was nothing to her, it numbed the pain in her heart, easing it, only to find the pain had worsened after she regained consciousness. The men above her kicked her, punched her, threw her against the wall, as if she were nothing but a rag doll, all the while at the end of the alleyway the same young boy stood watching horrified, this went on for little under an hour.

The atmosphere suddenly worsened as one of the men unzipped his pants, the sound snapped the boy out of his horrified trance before he disappeared out of sight, Naruto scurried back eyes wide in horror, and the other figures smirked. Naruto pushed the ground with her legs trying desperately to move away from them as she clutched her dislocated shoulder. The men drew nearer one reached out and grabbed the girl by her hair dragging her across the floor careful to pull her through the puddles and rocks that infested the alleyway. Naruto cried in pain as they did this, and suddenly she was let go, collapsing o the floor she lay their for only a short while before looking up to see all four figures frozen. "_Kagemane no Jutsu_, success"

A small yet deep voice sounded from behind Naruto and the four figures, while the four stood frozen facing the wall Naruto looked on to see a small boy roughly about the same age as her yet nearly four inches taller then her probably due to his hair which was pulled back into a high ponytail, and spiked at the end giving his head an odd impression of a pineapple. A small bead of sweat trickled down his face as he stepped forward, she noticed that the four surrounding her did the same, the shadowed figures were now face to face with the wall Naruto watched as the young boy and the four pulled their heads back and jerking their heads forward so fast that they were nothing but a blur.

Multiple cracks sounded throughout the alleyway before four men fell to the ground unconscious, Naruto huddled against the wall pulling her knees up towards her chest she stared at the four bloodied faces of her attackers. Hearing movement from ahead of her she looked up to see the boy inching towards her, fear gripped her heart, she visibly flinched as the boy took another step. Seeing her fear he stopped his movements, bending down he sat on the ground where he was, sitting as still as possible flinching whenever she cried in pain as she tried to move. Naruto looked at the boy feeling foolish, he was obviously trying to help her without scaring her, flinching as she moved she carefully inched forward towards the boy, yet slipped halfway to him, the boy disappeared and reappeared in front of her, more specifically under her, breaking her fall.

The blond collapsed into his chest, recovering from the shock of what happened she squeezed her eyes shut and snuggle deeper into him before completely breaking down and crying. Shikamaru did nothing but hold her slowly stroking her knotted hair. Shikamaru did notice when her whimpering stopped or when her breathing evened out, too comfortable basking in the warmth the young girl gave out and trying to figure out what the funny feeling in his chest was.

Before he knew it he had leaned against the wall and fallen asleep with his arms wrapped around the girl protectively, her head resting on his chest and his head resting on the wall, her body was curled into his clutching his shirt, resting in between his spread legs. This was the sight the Hokage and ANBU came upon after searching for the young blond, Sandaime smiled softly motioning the ANBU to take away the four males for interrogation he motioned for the last two ANBU to take the two children to hospital.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**So does being bored have a good or bad effect on my writing skills?**


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